SHARE

Parachute man drops gun, accidentally shoots himself

A Parachute man was hospitalized late Monday after reportedly shooting himself accidentally by dropping a handgun.

According to report released Tuesday by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were called out around 9:20 p.m. Monday to Grand River Medical Center in Rifle, where a man was being treated for a gunshot wound to the “rectal area.”

The bullet exited the man’s leg.

The Sheriff’s Department said the man was cleaning his .22-caliber handgun when he dropped the weapon, causing it to fire.

Garfield County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Holly Hopple declined to identify the man and did not have an update on his condition Tuesday.